Minori Beauty
Role: Art Direction, Concept Development, Video Editing (web, social media, email marketing)
Team: Photographer, Videographer — Jackie Ma; Colorist — Aleksandar Radulovic
Minori is a minimalist beauty brand rooted in the belief that makeup should be intentional, easy to use, and never overwhelming. Founded with a mission to promote mindful consumption, Minori champions a “less is more” philosophy, prioritizing clean ingredients and everyday wearability.
For the launch of Minori’s first mascara, Mother of Lashes, I developed and art directed the campaign, Back to Your Roots. As the brand entered the eye category for the first time, we wanted the launch to feel intimate and emotionally grounded — celebrating beauty not just as a product, but as a ritual passed down from generation to generation. We anchored the story in maternal influence, highlighting the quiet power of women who nurture, guide, and shape how we see and care for ourselves. The campaign explored the richness of different maternal qualities, connecting each moment of self-expression to the deeper legacies that inform it. In doing so, we aligned the product introduction with Minori’s core values of simplicity, intention, and emotional connectionmaking the mascara feel not only essential, but meaningful.
The campaign included both video and still photography, designed for use across Minori’s website, social platforms (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok), and email marketing. My role spanned the full production cycle — from concepting and pre-production to directing and editing.
Casting was a collaborative process focused on finding talent with real, relatable stories. We didn’t script anything. Instead we conducted on-set interviews to let the talent’s authentic voices lead the narrative. This approach created space for unscripted honesty and emotional depth, and allowed the audience to connect with the content on a personal level. The campaign felt real because it was real—built from the voices and memories of women being fully themselves.
I edited all of the video assets, tailoring each to fit a variety of formats and platforms — from short-form vertical videos for social to a hero video loop featured on Minori’s homepage. Visually, I established a split-screen format as the core language of the campaign. One side showed intimate b-roll—talent grounding themselves through personal rituals like gardening, preparing masala chai, connecting with loved ones, or applying mascara—while the other captured their honest, unscripted reflections. This layered structure brought both emotional texture and authenticity to each story.
The response exceeded expectations. According to Minori’s founder, Anastasia Bezrukova, “I’ve been loving our web banner so much and have gotten amazing feedback from customers.” Even though the campaign ran entirely organically—with no paid Facebook ads—the brand saw a noticeable uptick in performance. From March 16 to May 29, following the campaign’s launch, Minori’s Shopify conversion rate increased from 0.94% to 1.5%—a 60% lift—despite no significant change in website traffic. Anastasia credited this growth in part to the homepage video banner, which enhanced customer trust and created a more immersive experience.
She added, “This type of polished, narrative-based content really helps indie brands stand out in a sea of UGC. There are more and more beauty brands trying to make ‘short films’ now to break the pattern—this campaign made an impact for us.”
Back to Your Roots successfully introduced Mother of Lashes while reinforcing Minori’s identity as a brand rooted in quiet confidence and emotional storytelling. By centering real people, real stories, and an honest visual language, the campaign built a genuine connection with the audience—and proved that thoughtful content doesn’t just inspire, it converts.
